Axios

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg spoke about free expression with Georgetown University students yesterday, the first time he spoke publicly in Washington since his congressional testimony a year and a half ago.

The big picture: Zuckerberg told the students what he sees as the three biggest threats to free expression.

A record $14 billion in commitments made last week to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria could help the multilateral health partnership save up to 16 million lives while halving mortality rates from the illnesses it targets.

Why it matters: Very few countries are on track to reach the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goal targets for HIV, TB and malaria. The new commitments mark a 15% increase from the previous replenishment three years ago and reflect greater prioritization of preventable disease.

Deadly safety crises at Boeing this year and at GM in 2014 share the same, avoidable, root causes — lax government oversight and poor communication.

Driving the news: A multiagency task force this week concluded that "a breakdown in the nation's regulatory system and poor communication from Boeing compromised the safety of the 737 MAX jet before it crashed twice in five months and killed 346 people," the New York Times reports.

My latest ride is the 2020 Lincoln Aviator, the luxury brand's first midsize three-row SUV.

The big picture: Lincoln is making an impressive comeback, with a fresh lineup of new models that emphasize what it calls "effortless luxury."

Didi Chuxing, China's colossal ride-sharing company, is rolling out a self-driving pickup service on Chinese streets in the next few weeks — a gamble that could give the company an important edge in the global market.

Why it matters: The first company to put large numbers of self-driving cars on the road stands to gain two important advantages: reduced operating costs and real-world driving data for its algorithms, which will improve its autonomous driving systems.

Verizon's pending shutdown of Yahoo Groups has major implications for British cell phone customers looking to change carriers as Britain's cellphone regulator Ofcom uses Yahoo Groups to handle porting of numbers from one provider to another, The Verge reports.

The bottom line: It's not surprising to hear that nostalgic longtime Internet users would be sad to see Yahoo Groups' demise. It is very surprising to learn that a government or business was using the platform for any sort of mission critical work.

While biometrics can offer added security, two separate issues highlight limitations of the technology, especially when used as the sole means of locking a smartphone and user accounts.

Driving the news: Samsung says it is working on a software update for the Galaxy 10 after a user in Britain discovered that using a protective case, in some circumstances, will allow any fingerprint to unlock the device.

Mark Zuckerberg made an impassioned plea on behalf of free speech Thursday. Then a lot of free speech came back at him.

Driving the news: Speaking at Georgetown University, Facebook's CEO defended the company's decision to continue to post political ads — including some by President Trump's campaign — that make demonstrably false claims.

Jeffrey Epstein was a master of maximizing and leveraging proximity to wealth and power. While some of his associates certainly inherited their social status (like Robert Maxwell's daughter Ghislaine and Queen Elizabeth II's son PrinceAndrew), most of the time he went straight to the top of the family tree.

The big picture: After Epstein was convicted of sex crimes in 2008, his friendships with the rich and powerful continued unabated. In fact, his relationship with Bill Gates started in 2011.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg cast himself and his company as champions of free speech in a 45-minute talk at Georgetown University Thursday.

What he's saying: "I believe we have two responsibilities: to remove content when it could cause real danger as effectively as we can, and to fight to uphold as wide a definition of freedom of expression as possible — and not allow the definition of what is considered dangerous to expand beyond what is absolutely necessary."

Facebook is moving forward with its Libra cryptocurrency, even as Congress wants answers and big-name financial services partners drop out. Dan digs in with Bloomberg tech reporter Kurt Wagner.

Go deeper: Facebook pushes forward with Libra despite distrust

Disinformation campaigns used to consist of trolls and bots orchestrated and manipulated to produce a desired result. Increasingly, though, these campaigns are able to find willing human participants to amplify their messages and even generate new ones on their own.

The big picture: It's as if they're switching from employees to volunteers — and from participants who are in on the game to those who actually believe the disinformational payload they're delivering.

Government leaders and central bankers are spending more time studying digital currencies, but don't look any closer to launching one than they were 6 months or a year ago.

Why it matters: Facebook, by contrast, appears to have a prime-time ready product — its Libra digital currency — and shows every intention of pushing forward, despite the recent abandonment by a quarter of the members of the currency's governing body.

Most of the hottest new books about tech companies have focused on startups and companies barely a decade old — but Silicon Valley stalwarts like Apple haven't lost all their literary luster yet.

Driving the news: Wall Street Journal reporter Tripp Mickle will write an as-yet-untitled book for William Morrow about the iPhone maker's last decade since the death of co-founder Steve Jobs in 2011 — the era in which design chief Jony Ive held sway over product design while CEO Tim Cook steered the companyt to new market highs and new revenue from services.

The consensus in Washington is increasingly clear: The security threat to the U.S. from Chinese firms is bigger than just Huawei.

Why it matters: If the administration views every Chinese company with suspicion, it could prolong the trade war and put the U.S. and China on a crash course toward a swift technological decoupling.